Media environment driven content distribution platform

ABSTRACT

A method for a media environment driven content distribution platform includes obtaining synchronization data derived from the content and ancillary data pegged to instants in the synchronization data derived from the content, and communicating the synchronization data derived from the content and the ancillary data pegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived from the content such that subsequent alignment of the synchronization data derived from the content to the content synchronizes the ancillary data pegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived from the content to the content.

BACKGROUND

Media content is produced, processed, and then transmitted to consumers.In addition to traditional media content, the proliferation ofelectronic communications technologies has allowed for mass delivery ofancillary data related to or enhancing the content. For example,technologies such as instant messaging provide a medium by which todeliver electronic information to a large number of people very quickly.Electronic devices including, for example, personal computers, mobilephones, personal digital assistants, smart phones, and televisionset-top boxes (e.g., cable set top boxes, satellite set top boxes,etc.), provide ready access to consumers of information. The type andcontent of ancillary data that may be delivered via modern communicationtechnologies varies greatly and comprises everything from personalinformation to advertisement. Ancillary data can take on various formsfrom simple text, to graphics, to video, to content containing numerouslayers of data.

But current technologies are deficient in managing such ancillary datato make it accessible to consumers in an efficient, scalable, andaccurately aligned manner. Further, current technologies are deficientin providing proper analytics on the consumer's interest on theancillary data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure provides methods and systems to address theseproblems. The present disclosure provides methods and systems to extractand mine ancillary data corresponding to valuable layers of any aspectof any type of production information from any type of programmingproduction (entertainment, sports, news, etc.) and to make the layersavailable (e.g., broadcast, streaming, radio, etc.) within theprogramming itself.

The ancillary data may be time/frame/sample synchronized against theproduced physical form of the content. This content may be real time ornon-real time. The invention disclosed herein uses a dual path forancillary data synchronization with content, enabling indirectconnectivity and bypassing data roadblocks. Adding local fingerprintingto compare live events and those stored in a database provides asynchronization mechanism and it allows for feedback of data to provideupdates and additional new information to the database.

Users may then engage (human and machine level activities) with theancillary data ranging from information look ups, transactionalactivities through content as a store front models, brandsynchronization engaging brand and product placement, advertising serverintelligence, off line distribution and brokering to other socialplatforms, etc. The ancillary data may be channelized so that eachchannel can be brokered independently of another for differentapplication intentions. Finally, the methods and systems allow for dataanalytics to be collected and aggregated around these activities andmade available to interested parties.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods,and so on, that illustrate various example embodiments of aspects of theinvention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated elementboundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in thefigures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate that one element may be designed as multipleelements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. Anelement shown as an internal component of another element may beimplemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore,elements may not be drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary system for a mediaenvironment driven content distribution platform.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary method forsynchronizing ancillary data to content.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the exemplary system includingdetails at the broadcaster.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of the exemplary system includingdetails at the consumer.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of the exemplary system includingdetails at the storage location.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram for an exemplary method forsynchronizing ancillary data to content including audio.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram for an exemplary method forsynchronizing ancillary data to content including audio.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary machine forsynchronizing ancillary data to content including audio.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary system 10 for a mediaenvironment driven content distribution platform. The system 10 includesthree major components: the broadcaster 20, the consumer 30, and thestorage location 40. FIG. 2 also shows the medium M through which thebroadcaster 20, the consumer 30, and the storage location 40 communicatewith each other.

FIG. 1 shows a content 1, which may be a movie, a TV show, a sportsevent (e.g., basketball game), Internet video, radio, etc. FIG. 1 alsoshows ancillary data 7, which is data that is somehow related to thecontent 1 and may include data describing the content such as contentname or content identification data, data about a script played out inthe content, data about wardrobe wore by characters in the content, dataincluding comments from performers, producers, or directors of thecontent, an Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to a resource that includesinformation about the content, data about music in the audio of thecontent, etc. Ancillary data 7 may also include commercial data such asadvertisement data. Ancillary data 7 may also include user data such ascomments from viewers of the content (e.g., twitter messages, etc.)Ancillary data 7 may also include professional or technical data such asstatistics of the content's audio including, for example, loudness ordynamic range scaling of the content's audio, etc. As can be seen fromthe above examples, what constitutes ancillary data 7 may vary widelyand may be collected from many different sources.

Although for ease of explanation the present disclosure refers to theelement 20 as the broadcaster 20, the element 20 is not limited tobroadcasters or broadcasting facilities or equipment. In practice, thebroadcaster 20 may represent any facility or equipment such asproduction, editing, quality control, or mastering equipment thattouches the content 1 prior to and during playout for transmission orbroadcasting.

Similarly, although for ease of explanation the present disclosurerefers to the element 30 as the consumer 30, the element 30 is notlimited to consumers or consumer premises or equipment. In practice, theconsumer 30 may represent any premise or equipment that touches thecontent 1 during or post playout for transmission or broadcasting.

Also, the medium M may be any medium used to transmit content 1 or datagenerally such as, for example, the Internet, satellite communication,radio communication, television communication (broadcast or cable), etc.Although in the figures the medium M is shown as being shared by thebroadcaster 20, the consumer 30, and the storage location 40,communication between these elements does not need to take place in thesame medium. So, for example, the broadcaster 20 may communicate withthe consumer 30 via satellite while the broadcaster 20 communicates tothe storage location 40 via the Internet.

In the example of FIG. 1, the broadcaster 20 transmits the content 1 tothe consumer 30 and the ancillary data 7 and the synchronization data 9to the storage location 40 for storage. The consumer 30 receives thecontent 1 from the broadcaster 20 and the ancillary data 7 and thesynchronization data 9 from the storage location 40. Interestingly, theconsumer 30 may also transmit ancillary data 7 and/or synchronizationdata 9 to the storage location 40. Thus, the system 10 providesbidirectional communication by the consumer 30; the consumer 30 mayparticipate in the creation of ancillary data 7, enhancing the ancillarydata 7, the system's functionality and, ultimately, the customer'sexperience.

A significant issue that arises is synchronization; as a practicalmatter, how exactly is the ancillary data 7 time-aligned to the content1. Current methods of synchronization of content and ancillary datarequire an explicit data connection between the content's source and thetarget or consumer. This explicit timing data communicates the timing toequipment at the consumer premises. These methods are also usuallyunidirectional from the source or content provider to the target orconsumer, which is a limitation. Other current methods ofsynchronization rely on metadata attached to the content, which may ormay not be present all the way through the signal chain from the sourceor content provider to the target or consumer since different facilitieswill use various workflows which may or may not support metadata.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary method forsynchronizing ancillary data 7 to content 1. This process aligns theancillary data 7 against a physical form of the content 1, typically thefinished program, be it for theatrical or television broadcast. Asdiscussed in detail below, this alignment can happen in real time or innon-real time.

In a non-real time environment the alignment may occur according to arecord known as an editorial decision list or EDL. An EDL is a record ofall of the events that took place to produce the non-real time form ofcontent. These events may be grouped according to the original scriptlayout but may be re-shuffled, used, or not used, based on editorialdecisions. EDL come in a variety of formats including, for example, XMLor AAF. Both of these formats carry far richer metadata than traditionalEDL from linear systems. In addition to event positing, ordering, andduration, these formats also contain all source information for each ofthe content clips used. Information in EDL may include frame numbers,scene numbers, acts, events, broadcast segments (e.g., commercial breakentry points), characters, shot types, descriptions, script references,music, and other production data. Because EDL is a representation ofboundaries of visual and audio events in the content, all ancillary dataaligned to the content (automatic or manually) is also frame/timesynchronized.

In the case of a real time environment the data layer is more dynamicand is built around a concept of pre-aligned information against ageneral program model. However the specifics of where the alignmentoccurs happens by triangulation of the actual aired time code againstthe pre-determined 0 start or 1 start range identified as the programsrun-time or timecode to meet different delivery specifications such asbroadcast or OTT or if a program has been frame rate converted to meetthe needs of both foreign and domestic broadcast where total programduration and frame boundaries may change. The ancillary data to bealigned can be from pre-staged alignment or from aggregation feeds suchas sports statistics or news statistics.

All of the above activities are underpinned by an expansive cloud basednormalized object oriented data base model. The data base is built insuch a way so as to move away from a relationship governance supportedby hierarchical modeling and instead treating every piece of data asobjects, essentially flattened out and sitting on their own blob. Theseblobs of data can be aligned in any relationship model, dictated bypre-determined relational alignment, automatic relational alignmentmotivated by an implicit decision logic, a manually driven relationalalignment motivated by a programmatic assignment, or an on the flyrelational model driven by external events or triggers. In all caseseach piece of data within a data blob is assigned an internal identifierthat is used as a key code when triangulating data, extending data, ormodifying data.

They system 10 is media environment driven. This means that theancillary data is distributed based on the media environment andspecifically on changes in the media environmental state. The consumeror user receives ancillary data that corresponds to the mediaenvironment the user/consumer is experiencing. The simplest example isthat of a movie with video and audio.

FIG. 2 shows a content 1, which in the illustrated embodiment includesvideo 3 and audio 5, and ancillary data 7. The ancillary data 7 a isaligned to (i.e., it appears at or relates to) a time t_(x) of thecontent 1. Ancillary data 7 b and 7 c appear at or relate to a timet_(x+1) of the content 1. Ancillary data 7 d and 7 e appear at or relateto time t_(x+2). Ancillary data 7 f appears at or relates to timet_(x+3) of the content 1 and ancillary data 7 g appears at or relates totime t_(x+4).

For example, ancillary data 7 a at t_(x) may indicate the content'sname, True Blood, season 2, episode 2. At time t_(x+1) (e.g., at 12 m 2s) ancillary data 7 b describes that Sookie Stackhouse, played by AnnaPaquin is wearing Manolo Blahnik Hangisi 105 satin pump shoes whileancillary data 7 c indicates that the music is Beethoven's MoonlightSonata performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Ancillary data 7 dand 7 e may be twitter messages received at time t_(x+2) in which usersexpress their reactions to the content 1 or a particularly scene in thecontent 1. Ancillary data 7 f may indicate a change at t_(x+3) in theprescribed loudness or dynamic range scaling of the content's audio dueto a commercial break. Ancillary data 7 g may indicate a change att_(x+4) in the prescribed loudness or dynamic range scaling of thecontent's audio due to a return to the content 1 from the commercialbreak.

But the concept of content distribution based on changes in theenvironmental state is not limited to movies. Virtual Reality (VR) andAugmented Reality (AR), for example, in their very nature are based onpositional data as a result of the device itself. In the case of VR itmay be a turn of the head with VR goggles, or with a VR-capable phone,moving it left to right, up and down, that triggers the distribution ofspecific ancillary data from the cloud to the user/consumer.

Regarding authorship or collection, ancillary data 7 may be obtained orcollected prior to playout, broadcast, distribution or performance ofthe content 1. For example, ancillary data 7 may be obtained orcollected during production, editing, quality control, or mastering ofthe content 1. Ancillary data 7 may also be obtained or collected duringplayout, broadcast, distribution or performance of the content 1. Forexample, if the content 1 is a TV show, ancillary data 7 may be obtainedor collected during a first or subsequent broadcast of the TV show oranytime thereafter in cases of repeated viewings.

Any form of planning, such as the script, a program outline, the programrun down, the as-run log, game or news program templates, etc., of thecontent to be produced may be indexed. These scripts or program outlinesform a structural layout in a sequential order for which to ultimatelyassign program level data. In the case of script indexing, all of thescene level data may be indexed. This is information like characters,props, set information, etc.

As part of the script analysis process, the script may be parsed andcataloged based on its general industry components of: scene and number,location, and time of day (in story), characters, parenthetical (emotionor state at time of dialog) and dialog, action description andtransition, page number and duration (1/8 page in script terms) andestimate real time. Each character can have a speaking rate (words/min)assigned to estimate time for each if needed.

Each elements becomes part of a fully interactive database where eachelements is tracked and represented graphically to the user as to who,what, where, and when desired data is in the overall storyline. Inaddition to all relation permutations, a sentiment analysis may be doneon a per “block” of “Action” and “Dialog” sections on a per characterbasis in order to track changes at the per spoken block of dialog percharacter or by entire scene and program. Versions can be compared aswell as story arcs across multiple episode series. Is addition to userinteractivity, all queries can have responses exported as structured XMLfor further downstream use in the overall database structure. Otherforms of audio measurement can be used and tracked as visual overlaysuch as “phonemes per second” given any dialog input and used to compareversions of a given source. This same metadata can be correlated formusic selection in mapping phonemes to beats (BPM)

The data that is entered pre-production or post production may besourced from either hand-entered models, from internal applicationsacting as data Trojan Horses, or from affiliated partneringapplications. These points of data in-flow may be aligned against thecontent. The result is an inventory storage location of all of theproduction data acquired. Each piece of information collected may beassigned an internal set of codes or GUIDs (Global Unique Identifiers)so that they can be mapped virtually downstream.

Regarding storage and distribution, ancillary data 7 collected may bestored in a database that may be made accessible to future users orviewers of the content 1 in the case of data intended for consumers.This way, when the content 1 is later distributed to those users orviewers, the ancillary data 7 may be available to those users or viewersfor consumption at the same time as the content 1. Similarly, ancillarydata 7 collected may be stored in the same or a different database to bemade accessible to, for example, broadcasters or advertisers in the caseof consumer data collected. The ancillary data 7 appears or manifestsitself aligned in time to the content 1.

Distribution may include exposing the aligned ancillary data such, asfor example, using an Open/Active API, an Open/Passive API, ACR, orKey-code insertion.

An Open/Active API supports real-time event queries driven by consumerinteraction with content in a play back mode. Active play back contentviewing applications or applications aligned with active play back canquery directly into this web service to retrieve their data. The webservice works against running timecode or static timecode. The exposureto the information can be channelized/restricted so that specificsubscribers can access a specific channel.

An Open/Passive API supports off line event queries driven by otherapplications or other non-content driven access models. This layer canbe accessed as well by virtually any subscriber application that haspermission, however the intention is to retrieve data in a non-activeplayback model.

An ACR model is discussed in more detail below in reference to FIG. 1.In essence, the ACR model involves using a fingerprint to identify thecontent and retrieve the associated ancillary data. The ACR model mayinclude an acoustic fingerprint generation technology which utilizes theraw audio stream from a recorded piece of media such as a televisionbroadcast or movie and creates a unique set of data—a“fingerprint”—which can be later used to for time-based contentidentification. Each ACR fingerprint which is generated identifies apiece of media and the time within that media. As explained below, theACR model has both a server (broadcaster) side and client (consumer)side component. The server side component is responsible for generatingacoustic fingerprints for a given media and the client “listening” sideis responsible for capturing incoming audio from the client device'smicrophone, converting this to a fingerprint using the same ACR modeland comparing this against a set of fingerprints to determine media timeposition. The ACR technology can be used in pre-recorded and real-timescenarios.

In the pre-recorded scenario, the ACR server generates a set of contentfingerprints ahead of time and stores them in a database along with theassociated ancillary data. The client app at a later time will loadthese fingerprints from the database along with relevant ancillary datasuch as characters, costumes, advertisements, etc. The client app maythen listen to the microphone on the client device and begin generatingfingerprints for the incoming audio stream. As fingerprints aregenerated they are compared against the pre-generated fingerprints forthe media and upon successfully matching a fingerprint, the known timeof the media is used to synchronize content to the ancillary data by,for example, displaying information about the actors that are on thescreen at the current time.

In a real-time scenario, an audio source such as broadcasting stationprovides 1+ audio streams to the ACR server. Each stream isindependently identified and fingerprinted over time and the generatedfingerprints are published to the database along with the streamidentification information such as Channel, Show, etc. The client app orconsumer is provided these fingerprints in real time and uses the samealgorithm to match the incoming audio on the microphone to thefingerprints being sent real-time from the broadcaster or server. Uponidentification, the client app can provide the appropriate experience tothe consumer.

In either scenario, upon successfully matching a fingerprint on thedevice to one of the server generated fingerprints, the app hasdetermined both the media being watched and the time offset within thatmedia. In addition to the end user experience, this information can thenbe published to a web service for data analytics gathering.

The Key-code insertion model allows for the insertion of the GUIDS intothe program stream, VANC, or audio stream depending on the use model.These keys correspond to the contents aligned metadata and areauthenticated through the open API. These Key-codes are reference pointsto the actual data that is assigned against a particular Key-code. TheseKey-codes are secure and understood only by the Source system. TheKey-codes can be used to point back to any structural piece ofinformation. Example, a Key-code for a dress worn by a particularcharacter would be able to relate to an extensible set of metadata aboutthe dress, the ability to take action around that metadata, and thedress role as part of information underneath the costume data channel.

The final layer of the architecture is the data analytics layer. Thislayer allows for the tracking and recording of any interaction with thecontent's ancillary data and the relationship of that interactionagainst a particular piece of content and/or where in the viewing of thecontent that interaction took place.

In the example of FIG. 2, the content 1 includes video 3 and audio 5.FIG. 2 also illustrates a synchronization data 9, which corresponds to arepresentation of the audio 5 of the content 1 in the form of an audiowaveform signature. The synchronization data 9 matches the audio 5 ofthe content 1 at least to the extent that the audio 5 is identifiablefrom the synchronization data 9 along the time t. In the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the ancillary data 7 are each pegged to the synchronization data9 at instants of the synchronization data 9 corresponding to theinstants of the audio 5 to which the ancillary data 7 is aligned.

In the example of FIG. 2, ancillary data A is pegged to the instant ofsynchronization data 9 corresponding to time t_(x) of the content 1.Ancillary data 7 b and 7 c are pegged to the instant of synchronizationdata 9 corresponding to time t_(x+1) of the content 1. Ancillary data 7d and 7 e are pegged to the instant of synchronization data 9corresponding to time t_(x+2). Ancillary data 7 f is pegged to theinstant of synchronization data 9 corresponding to time t_(x+3) of thecontent 1 and ancillary data 7 g is pegged to the instant ofsynchronization data 9 corresponding to time t₊₄ of the content 1.

Each of the ancillary data 7 and the synchronization data 9 may then bestored in a database that may be made accessible to future users orviewers of the content 1. This way, when the content 1 is distributed tothose users or viewers, the synchronization data 9 as well as theancillary data 7 pegged to the synchronization data 9 may be availableto those users or viewers.

At the user's premises, the content 1 being received may be comparedreal-time to the synchronization data 9 to synchronize the content 1 tothe synchronization data 9. Moreover, since the ancillary data 7 ispegged to the instants of the synchronization data 9 corresponding totheir respective times of the content 1, the ancillary data 7 may besynchronized to the content 1 even in the absence of explicit timingdata.

The above example of FIG. 2 represents but one example of potential waysof synchronizing ancillary data 7 to content 1. Any other technologythat creates a relationship between ancillary data and media content maybe used. Other technologies that may be used to synchronize ancillarydata to content include phonetic transcription alignment used by closecaptioning quality control products.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the exemplary system 10 includingdetails at the broadcaster 20. In the illustrated embodiment, thebroadcaster 20 includes a pre-synchronizer 22 that pegs the ancillarydata 7 to instants of the synchronization data 9 (e.g., therepresentation of the audio 5 of the content 1 of FIG. 1).

The broadcaster 20 may also include a transceiver 24 that communicatesthe content 1 to the consumer 30 and the synchronization data 9 and theancillary data 7 pegged to the instants in the synchronization data 9 tothe storage location 40 via the medium M. As described above, thestorage location 40 is accessible by consumer 30. Alignment of thesynchronization data 9 to the content 1 upon subsequent playout,broadcast, distribution, performance, etc. of the content 1 synchronizesthe ancillary data 7 pegged to the instants in synchronization data 9 tothe content 1.

The broadcaster 20 may also include an audio processor 26, which mayprocess the audio 5 of the content 1 to create a representation of thecontent's audio 5 such as, for example, the audio waveform signature ofFIG. 2. The transceiver 24 may then communicate the synchronization data9 (e.g., the signature) and the ancillary data 7 pegged to the instantsin the synchronization data 9 to the storage location 40.

In one embodiment, the pre-synchronizer 22 creates a link to the storagelocation 40. The link may be a Uniform Resource Identifier (e.g., URL)or similar location identifier or locator. The audio processor 26 mayinsert the link to the storage location 40 into metadata of the content1 or specifically metadata of the content's audio 5. The audio 5 may beencoded as Dolby AC-4, AC-3 or E-AC-3 or MPEG-H, all of which can carrymetadata. The consumer 30 may extract the link to the storage location40 from the metadata of the content 1 or of the content's audio 5.Having the link to the storage location 40, the consumer 30 may thencommunicate to the storage location 40 to obtain the information storedin the storage location 40 or to store information therein.

As discussed above, the pre-synchronizer 22 may collect the ancillarydata 7 during a previous playout or performance of the content 1. Forexample, the content 1 may be a basketball game which is originallybroadcasted live. Ancillary data 7 may include up-to-date gamestatistics (e.g., points, rebounds, assists, etc.) Having access to thisancillary data 7 and its corresponding timing, the pre-synchronizer 22may peg the ancillary data 7 to instants in a synchronization data 9(e.g., a waveform signature) corresponding to the appropriate timing inthe game when the statistics are accurate. The transceiver 24 may thentransmit the ancillary data 7 and the synchronization data 9 to thestorage location 40 for the consumer 30 to have access to theinformation to use as described above.

The broadcaster 20 may also include authoring tools 28 to collectancillary data 7. The authoring tools 28 may allow, for example, astatistician to enter the statistics of the basketball game describedabove. In general, the authoring tools 28 may allow entry of ancillarydata 7. The authoring tools 28 may be used to enter ancillary datadescribing the content such as content name or content identificationdata, data about a script played out in the content, data about wardrobewore by characters in the content, data including comments fromperformers, producers, or directors of the content, an Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) to a resource that includes information about the content,data about music in the audio of the content, etc. The authoring tools28 may also be used to enter ancillary data 7 in the form of commercialdata such as advertisement data or professional or technical dataregarding or relating to the content.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of the exemplary system 10 includingdetails at the consumer 30. The consumer 30 may include a machine orgroup of machines for synchronizing ancillary data 7 to content 1.

In the illustrated embodiment, the consumer 30 includes a transceiver 32that receives the content 1 from the broadcaster 20 and thesynchronization data 9 and the ancillary data 7 pegged to instants inthe synchronization data 9 from the storage location 40.

The consumer 30 may also include a post-synchronizer 34 that aligns thesynchronization data 9 to the content 1 thereby synchronizing theancillary data 7 to the content 1 as described above. The specificmethodology by which the post-synchronizer 34 aligns the synchronizationdata 9 to the content 1 is not crucial to the present invention.Mechanisms by which such alignment may be accomplished include avariation of what is known as Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) andspecifically a variation of what is known as fingerprinting. ACR aretechnologies used to identify or recognize content played on a mediadevice or present in a media file. Acoustic fingerprinting generatesunique fingerprints from the content itself. Fingerprinting techniqueswork regardless of content format, codec, bitrate and compressiontechniques. This makes it possible to use across networks and channels.Continuously comparing an ongoing, real-time fingerprint of the content1 to the synchronization data 9 may be used to synchronize the ancillarydata 7 timeline of the content 1.

The consumer 30 may also include an audio processor 36 that receives thecontent's audio 5 from the transceiver 32. In one embodiment, the audioprocessor 36 may extract metadata from the content 1 or from thecontent's audio 5 and, from the metadata, the audio processor mayextract the link to the storage location 40 as described above. Havingthe link to the storage location 40, the transceiver 32 may thencommunicate to the storage location 40 to obtain the information storedin the storage location 40 or to store information therein.

Alternatively or in addition, the link to the storage location 40 may bedistributed to the consumer 30 in a subscription basis or otherwiseprovided to the consumer 30. This way, if the content 1 as received bythe consumer 30 does not include metadata or the metadata does notinclude the link to the storage location 40, the consumer 30 may stillaccess the storage location 40.

In one embodiment, the audio processor 36 compares the content's audio 5to the synchronization data 9 obtained from the storage location 40.Based on that comparison, the content 1 may be identified. That is, ifthe content's audio 5 and the synchronization data 9 match within a setof parameters, the content 1 may be identified as corresponding to thesynchronization data 9 or vice versa. Similarly, if the content's audio5 and the synchronization data 9 do not match within the set ofparameters, the content 1 may be said to not correspond to thesynchronization data 9 or vice versa.

The consumer 30 may also include interaction tools 38 that present(e.g., display) the ancillary data 7 in synchronicity with presentationof the content 1. The interaction tools 38 present the ancillary data 7in synchronicity with presentation of the content 1 by relying on thealigning of the synchronization data 9 to the content 1. This aligningsynchronizes the ancillary data 7, which is pegged to the instants inthe synchronization data 9, to the content 1. In the basketball gameexample described above, the interaction tools 38 may display theup-to-date statistics of the basketball game in synchronicity withpresentation of the game even when the game is replayed many years afterthe game was first televised live.

Because the storage location 40 stores the ancillary data 7 and thesynchronization data 9, the information may be available for access atany time. For example, the consumer 30 may have recorded the basketballgame (i.e., the content 1) in a digital video recorder (DVR) or obtain arecording of the game in any other way. A few days later the consumermay watch the game. The transceiver 32 may obtain the game (i.e., thecontent 1) from the DVR (or any other way the consumer 30 obtained thecontent) and may also obtain the synchronization data 9 and theancillary data 7 from the storage location 40. The interaction tools 30may then display the up-to-date statistics of the basketball game insynchronicity with presentation of the game, even when the game isreplayed after the game was first televised live.

In one embodiment, the interaction tools 38 may also be used to collectancillary data 7. For example, during a playout, broadcast, distributionor performance of the content 1, the consumer may enter, via theinteraction tools 38, ancillary data 7 such as notes or commentsrelating to the content 1 or specific scenes or portions of the content1. The post-synchronizer 34 may then peg the ancillary data 7 enteredvia the interaction tools 38 to instants of the synchronization data 9corresponding to instants in the content 1 and store the ancillary data7 to the storage location 40. In this case the synchronization data 9may be a) a representation obtained from the storage location 40 or b) arepresentation created locally at the consumer 30 by the audio processor36 and stored to the storage location 40 with the ancillary data 7.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of the exemplary system 10 includingdetails at the storage location 40. The storage location 40 may includea machine or group of machines for synchronizing ancillary data tocontent including audio. The storage location 40 may include atransceiver 42 that communicates (i.e., transmits and receives) thesynchronization data 9 and the ancillary data 7. The storage location 40may also include a database 44 that stores the synchronization data 9and the ancillary data 7 pegged to instants in the synchronization data9.

In one embodiment, the transceiver 42 communicates and the database 44stores statistics of the content's audio 5 (e.g., loudness or dynamicrange scaling) as ancillary data 7 or in addition to ancillary data 7 asdescribed above. In one embodiment, the transceiver 42 continues tocommunicate and the database 44 continues to store ancillary data 7during subsequent playout, broadcast, distribution or performance of thecontent 1 as described above.

The storage location 40 may be a location accessible to the broadcaster20 and the consumer 30, such as the cloud or a local archive withgeneral accessibility (e.g., via a link as described above) that may becontrolled by subscription, password, etc.

The system 10 may be implemented using software, hardware, analog ordigital techniques.

Exemplary methods may be better appreciated with reference to the flowdiagrams of FIGS. 6 and 7. While for purposes of simplicity ofexplanation, the illustrated methodologies are shown and described as aseries of blocks, it is to be appreciated that the methodologies are notlimited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks can occur indifferent orders or concurrently with other blocks from that shown anddescribed. Moreover, less than all the illustrated blocks may berequired to implement an exemplary methodology. Furthermore, additionalmethodologies, alternative methodologies, or both can employ additionalblocks, not illustrated.

In the flow diagrams, blocks denote “processing blocks” that may beimplemented with logic. The processing blocks may represent a methodstep or an apparatus element for performing the method step. The flowdiagrams do not depict syntax for any particular programming language,methodology, or style (e.g., procedural, object-oriented). Rather, theflow diagrams illustrate functional information one skilled in the artmay employ to develop logic to perform the illustrated processing. Itwill be appreciated that in some examples, program elements liketemporary variables, routine loops, and so on, are not shown. It will befurther appreciated that electronic and software applications mayinvolve dynamic and flexible processes so that the illustrated blockscan be performed in other sequences that are different from those shownor that blocks may be combined or separated into multiple components. Itwill be appreciated that the processes may be implemented using variousprogramming approaches like machine language, procedural, objectoriented or artificial intelligence techniques.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram for an exemplary method 600 forcollecting and synchronizing ancillary data to content.

The method 600 includes at 610 collecting the ancillary data 7.Collection may take place prior to, during or post playout, broadcast,distribution or performance of the content as described above. Theancillary data 7 is data that is somehow related to the content and mayinclude data describing the content such as content name or contentidentification data, data about a script played out in the content, dataabout wardrobe wore by characters in the content, data includingcomments from performers, producers, or directors of the content, anUniform Resource Locator (URL) to a resource that includes informationabout the content, data about music in the audio of the content, etc.Ancillary data 7 may include commercial data such as advertisement data.Ancillary data 7 may also include user data such as comments fromviewers of the content (e.g., twitter messages, etc.) Ancillary data 7may also include professional or technical data such as statistics ofthe content's audio including, for example, loudness or dynamic rangescaling of the content's audio, etc.

At 620, the method 600 further includes creating synchronizationinformation such as, for example, creating audio fingerprints byanalyzing the audio 5 of the content 1 to create the synchronizationdata 9. The synchronization data 9 may be created by creating an audiowaveform signature of the content's audio as described above or by othermethods.

At 630, the ancillary data 7 is pegged to instants in thesynchronization information 9. Pegging the ancillary data 7 to instantsin the synchronization information 9 means that the ancillary data 7 istime-aligned to the content 1. This pegging may be accomplished byassociating the ancillary data 7 to a synchronization data 9 of aspecific content 1 and time stamping the ancillary data 7 with times ofinstants in the synchronization data 9 or other time alignment methods.

At 640, the synchronization information (e.g., the synchronization data9) and the ancillary data 7 pegged to instants in the synchronizationinformation (e.g., the synchronization data 9) may be stored to thestorage location 40.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram for an exemplary method 700 fordistributing and synchronizing ancillary data.

At 710, the method 700 includes receiving the content 1 and/or thesynchronization data 9.

At 720, a real-time signature of the content 1 may be compared to thesynchronization data 9 to identify the content 1. For example, theclient app on a customer device may be made to “listen” to the content 1being played out. The client app has access to the database in which theancillary data 7 pegged to the synchronization data 9 is stored. Theclient app may, thus, compare the content 1 being played out to thesynchronization data 9.

If they match within a selectable range, at 730, the content 1 isidentified.

At 740, if metadata (e.g., EMDF) is present and it includes a timestamp, at 750, the ancillary data 7 may be synchronized to the content 1based on the time stamp.

If metadata is not present or it does not include the time stamp, at760, the ancillary data 7 may be synchronized to the content 1 based onthe synchronization information. For example, the synchronization data 9may be aligned to the content's audio 5 as described above tosynchronize the ancillary data 7 to the content 1.

The consumer application or the interaction tools 38, now synchronizedto the content 1 may, at 770, display the ancillary data 7 insynchronicity with presentation of the content 1.

At 780, the method 700 may further communicate additional ancillary data7 that may be viewed or accessed by other consumers, program producers,or possibly even advertisers. This data can also be used by downstreamprofessional or consumer ad insertion mechanisms and owing to thedetail-rich data that is present, potentially augmented by real-timeupdates or additions to that data, the insertions can be targeted with amuch finer accuracy than previous static methods. The method 700 maycontinue to receive and synchronize new ancillary data 7 duringsubsequent playout, broadcast, distribution, or performance of thecontent 1.

While the figures illustrate various actions occurring in serial, it isto be appreciated that various actions illustrated could occursubstantially in parallel, and while actions may be shown occurring inparallel, it is to be appreciated that these actions could occursubstantially in series. While a number of processes are described inrelation to the illustrated methods, it is to be appreciated that agreater or lesser number of processes could be employed and thatlightweight processes, regular processes, threads, and other approachescould be employed. It is to be appreciated that other exemplary methodsmay, in some cases, also include actions that occur substantially inparallel. The illustrated exemplary methods and other embodiments mayoperate in real-time, faster than real-time in a software or hardware orhybrid software/hardware implementation, or slower than real time in asoftware or hardware or hybrid software/hardware implementation.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary machine 800 forsynchronizing ancillary data to content including audio. The machine 800includes a processor 802, a memory 804, and I/O Ports 810 operablyconnected by a bus 808.

In one example, the machine 800 may receive input signals including thecontent 1, the video 3, the audio 5, the ancillary data 7, thesynchronization data 9, etc. via, for example, I/O Ports 810 or I/OInterfaces 818. The machine 800 may also include the pre-synchronizer22, the transceiver 24, the audio processor 26, and the authoring tools28 of the broadcaster 20. The machine 800 may also include thetransceiver 32, the post-synchronizer 34, the audio processor 36, andthe interaction tools 38 of the consumer 30. The machine 800 may alsoinclude the transceiver 42 and the database 44 of the storage location40. Thus, the broadcaster 20, the consumer 30, or the storage location40 may be implemented in machine 1700 as hardware, firmware, software,or a combination thereof and, thus, the machine 1700 and its componentsmay provide means for performing functions described herein as performedby the pre-synchronizer 22, the transceiver 24, the audio processor 26,the authoring tools 28, the transceiver 32, the post-synchronizer 34,the audio processor 36, the interaction tools 38, the transceiver 42 andthe database 44.

The processor 802 can be a variety of various processors including dualmicroprocessor and other multi-processor architectures. The memory 804can include volatile memory or non-volatile memory. The non-volatilememory can include, but is not limited to, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, andthe like. Volatile memory can include, for example, RAM, synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DRRAM).

A disk 806 may be operably connected to the machine 800 via, forexample, an I/O Interfaces (e.g., card, device) 818 and an I/O Ports810. The disk 806 can include, but is not limited to, devices like amagnetic disk drive, a solid state disk drive, a floppy disk drive, atape drive, a Zip drive, a flash memory card, or a memory stick.Furthermore, the disk 806 can include optical drives like a CD-ROM, a CDrecordable drive (CD-R drive), a CD rewriteable drive (CD-RW drive), ora digital video ROM drive (DVD ROM). The memory 804 can store processes814 or data 816, for example. The disk 806 or memory 804 can store anoperating system that controls and allocates resources of the machine800.

The bus 808 can be a single internal bus interconnect architecture orother bus or mesh architectures. While a single bus is illustrated, itis to be appreciated that machine 800 may communicate with variousdevices, logics, and peripherals using other busses that are notillustrated (e.g., PCIE, SATA, Infiniband, 1394, USB, Ethernet). The bus808 can be of a variety of types including, but not limited to, a memorybus or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus, a crossbarswitch, or a local bus. The local bus can be of varieties including, butnot limited to, an industrial standard architecture (ISA) bus, amicrochannel architecture (MCA) bus, an extended ISA (EISA) bus, aperipheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, a universal serial (USB)bus, and a small computer systems interface (SCSI) bus.

The machine 800 may interact with input/output devices via I/OInterfaces 818 and I/O Ports 810. Input/output devices can include, butare not limited to, a keyboard, a microphone, a pointing and selectiondevice, cameras, video cards, displays, disk 806, network devices 820,and the like. The I/O Ports 810 can include but are not limited to,serial ports, parallel ports, and USB ports.

The machine 800 can operate in a network environment and thus may beconnected to network devices 820 via the I/O Interfaces 818, or the I/OPorts 810. Through the network devices 820, the machine 800 may interactwith a network. Through the network, the machine 800 may be logicallyconnected to remote computers. The networks with which the machine 800may interact include, but are not limited to, a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and other networks. The networkdevices 820 can connect to LAN technologies including, but not limitedto, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), copper distributed datainterface (CDDI), Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), token ring (IEEE 802.5),wireless computer communication (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (IEEE802.15.1), Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) and the like. Similarly, the networkdevices 820 can connect to WAN technologies including, but not limitedto, point to point links, circuit switching networks like integratedservices digital networks (ISDN), packet switching networks, and digitalsubscriber lines (DSL). While individual network types are described, itis to be appreciated that communications via, over, or through a networkmay include combinations and mixtures of communications.

Definitions

The following includes definitions of selected terms employed herein.The definitions include various examples or forms of components thatfall within the scope of a term and that may be used for implementation.The examples are not intended to be limiting. Both singular and pluralforms of terms may be within the definitions.

“Content” corresponds to still images, segments of audio media, videomedia, or audio/visual (AV) media and include information that isembodied, stored, transmitted, received, processed, or otherwise usedwith at least one medium. Common media content formats include FLVformat (flash video), Windows Media Video, RealMedia, Quicktime, MPEG,MP3, DivX, JPEGs, and Bitmaps. As used herein, the terms “media clips”,“media content,” “information content,” and “content” may be usedinterchangeably.

“Data store” or “database,” as used herein, refers to a physical orlogical entity that can store data. A data store may be, for example, adatabase, a table, a file, a list, a queue, a heap, a memory, aregister, and so on. A data store may reside in one logical or physicalentity or may be distributed between two or more logical or physicalentities.

“Logic,” as used herein, includes but is not limited to hardware,firmware, software or combinations of each to perform a function(s) oran action(s), or to cause a function or action from another logic,method, or system. For example, based on a desired application or needs,logic may include a software controlled microprocessor, discrete logiclike an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmedlogic device, a memory device containing instructions, or the like.Logic may include one or more gates, combinations of gates, or othercircuit components. Logic may also be fully embodied as software. Wheremultiple logical logics are described, it may be possible to incorporatethe multiple logical logics into one physical logic. Similarly, where asingle logical logic is described, it may be possible to distribute thatsingle logical logic between multiple physical logics.

An “operable connection,” or a connection by which entities are“operably connected,” is one in which signals, physical communications,or logical communications may be sent or received. Typically, anoperable connection includes a physical interface, an electricalinterface, or a data interface, but it is to be noted that an operableconnection may include differing combinations of these or other types ofconnections sufficient to allow operable control. For example, twoentities can be operably connected by being able to communicate signalsto each other directly or through one or more intermediate entities likea processor, operating system, a logic, software, or other entity.Logical or physical communication channels can be used to create anoperable connection.

In broadcasting, “playout” is a term for the transmission of radio or TVchannels from the broadcaster into broadcast networks that delivers thecontent to the audience.

“Signal,” as used herein, includes but is not limited to one or moreelectrical or optical signals, analog or digital signals, data, one ormore computer or processor instructions, messages, a bit or bit stream,or other means that can be received, transmitted, or detected.

“Software,” as used herein, includes but is not limited to, one or morecomputer or processor instructions that can be read, interpreted,compiled, or executed and that cause a computer, processor, or otherelectronic device to perform functions, actions or behave in a desiredmanner. The instructions may be embodied in various forms like routines,algorithms, modules, methods, threads, or programs including separateapplications or code from dynamically or statically linked libraries.Software may also be implemented in a variety of executable or loadableforms including, but not limited to, a stand-alone program, a functioncall (local or remote), a servlet, an applet, instructions stored in amemory, part of an operating system or other types of executableinstructions. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the artthat the form of software may depend, for example, on requirements of adesired application, the environment in which it runs, or the desires ofa designer/programmer or the like. It will also be appreciated thatcomputer-readable or executable instructions can be located in one logicor distributed between two or more communicating, co-operating, orparallel processing logics and thus can be loaded or executed in serial,parallel, massively parallel and other manners.

Suitable software for implementing the various components of the examplesystems and methods described herein may be produced using programminglanguages and tools like Java, Pascal, C#, C++, C, CGI, Perl, SQL, APIs,SDKs, assembly, firmware, microcode, or other languages and tools.Software, whether an entire system or a component of a system, may beembodied as an article of manufacture and maintained or provided as partof a computer-readable medium as defined previously. Another form of thesoftware may include signals that transmit program code of the softwareto a recipient over a network or other communication medium. Thus, inone example, a computer-readable medium has a form of signals thatrepresent the software/firmware as it is downloaded from a web server toa user. In another example, the computer-readable medium has a form ofthe software/firmware as it is maintained on the web server. Other formsmay also be used.

“User” or “consumer,” as used herein, includes but is not limited to oneor more persons, software, computers or other devices, or combinationsof these.

Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on databits within a memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representationsare the means used by those skilled in the art to convey the substanceof their work to others. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceivedto be a sequence of operations that produce a result. The operations mayinclude physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, the physical quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared, and otherwise manipulated in a logic and the like.

It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of commonusage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols,characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind,however, that these and similar terms are to be associated with theappropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels appliedto these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, it isappreciated that throughout the description, terms like processing,computing, calculating, determining, displaying, or the like, refer toactions and processes of a computer system, logic, processor, or similarelectronic device that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (electronic) quantities.

For ease of explanation, the present disclosure describes examples inthe context of the nomenclature described in ETSI TS 102 366 (Annex H)such as, for example, the Extensible Metadata Format (EMDF) used tocarry information and control data about audio signals into which it isembedded. The principles of the present disclosure, however, are notlimited to that context and may be practiced in various other contextsincluding any such embedded metadata schemes included with anycompressed audio including ETSI TS 103 190 (section 4.3.15) or basebandPCM audio system including metadata as described in ATSC A52:2012 andA/85:2013 or even the SMPTE 337M standard.

To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in thedetailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted whenemployed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extentthat the term “or” is employed in the detailed description or claims(e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both”. When theapplicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term“only A or B but not both” will be employed. Thus, use of the term “or”herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A.Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 624 (2d. Ed. 1995).

While example systems, methods, and so on, have been illustrated bydescribing examples, and while the examples have been described inconsiderable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants torestrict or in any way limit scope to such detail. It is, of course, notpossible to describe every conceivable combination of components ormethodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and soon, described herein. Additional advantages and modifications willreadily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention isnot limited to the specific details, the representative apparatus, andillustrative examples shown and described. Thus, this application isintended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fallwithin the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the precedingdescription is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather,the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claimsand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A machine or group of machines for a mediaenvironment driven content distribution platform, comprising: apre-synchronizer configured to obtain ancillary data and synchronizationdata derived from the content and to peg the ancillary data to instantsin the synchronization data derived from the content such thatsubsequent alignment of the synchronization data derived from thecontent to the content at a user's premises synchronizes the ancillarydata, pegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived fromthe content, to the content; and a transceiver configured to communicatethe synchronization data derived from the content and the ancillary datapegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived from thecontent to a storage location.
 2. The machine or group of machines ofclaim 1, wherein the pre-synchronizer is configured to receive ancillarydata in the form of: data about music in the content, data about ascript played out in the content, data about wardrobe wore by charactersin the content, data describing the content, data including commentsfrom performers, producers, or directors of the content, data includingcomments from viewers of the content, data including a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) to a resource that includes information about the content,advertisement data, or statistics of the content including at leastcontent name or content identification.
 3. The machine or group ofmachines of claim 1, wherein: the transceiver is configured tocommunicate the synchronization data derived from the content and theancillary data pegged to the instants in the synchronization dataderived from the content to a database accessible by consumers of thecontent.
 4. The machine or group of machines of claim 1, wherein: thetransceiver is configured to communicate the synchronization dataderived from the content and the ancillary data pegged to the instantsin the synchronization data derived from the content to a storagelocation accessible by consumers of the content; and thepre-synchronizer is configured to create a link to the storage location.5. The machine or group of machines of claim 1, comprising: a processorconfigured to create the synchronization data derived from the content,wherein: the transceiver is configured to communicate thesynchronization data derived from the content and the ancillary datapegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived from thecontent to a storage location accessible by consumers of the content;the pre-synchronizer is configured to create a link to the storagelocation; and the processor is configured to insert the link to thestorage location into metadata of the content.
 6. The machine or groupof machines of claim 1, wherein: the pre-synchronizer is configured tocollect the ancillary data during a previous playout or performance ofthe content and to peg the ancillary data to instants in thesynchronization data derived from the content corresponding to instantsin the content.
 7. The machine or group of machines of claim 1,comprising: a processor configured to create the synchronization dataderived from the content and transmit the synchronization data derivedfrom the content to the pre-synchronizer.
 8. The machine or group ofmachines of claim 1, comprising: an audio processor configured to createthe synchronization data derived from the content by creating an audiowaveform signature of the content's audio.
 9. The machine or group ofmachines of claim 1, comprising: authoring tools configured to collectthe ancillary data during a playout or performance of the content forpegging the ancillary data to the instants in the synchronization dataderived from the content.
 10. A machine or group of machines for a mediaenvironment driven content distribution platform, comprising: atransceiver configured to obtain the content, synchronization dataderived from the content, and ancillary data pegged to instants in thesynchronization data derived from the content; and a post-synchronizerconfigured to align the synchronization data derived from the content tothe content thereby synchronizing the ancillary data pegged to theinstants in the synchronization data derived from the content to thecontent.
 11. The machine or group of machines of claim 10, wherein thetransceiver is configured to receive the ancillary data in the form of:data about music in the content, data about a script played out in thecontent, data about wardrobe wore by characters in the content, datadescribing the content, data including comments from performers,producers, or directors of the content, data including comments fromviewers of the content, data including a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)to a resource that includes information about the content, advertisementdata, or statistics of the content including at least content name orcontent identification.
 12. The machine or group of machines of claim10, comprising: interaction tools configured to collect the ancillarydata during a playout or performance of the content for pegging theancillary data to the instants in the synchronization data derived fromthe content.
 13. The machine or group of machines of claim 10,comprising: a processor configured to receive the content from thetransceiver and extract from metadata of the content a link to storagelocation in which the synchronization data derived from the content andthe ancillary data pegged to the instants in the synchronization dataderived from the content are stored and accessible by consumers of thecontent; and the transceiver is configured to obtain the synchronizationdata derived from the content and the ancillary data pegged to theinstants in the synchronization data derived from the content from thestorage location.
 14. The machine or group of machines of claim 10,comprising: a processor configured to compare the content to thesynchronization data derived from the content to identify the content.15. The machine or group of machines of claim 10, comprising:interaction tools configured to display the ancillary data insynchronicity with presentation of the content relying on the aligningof the synchronization data derived from the content to the content. 16.A machine or group of machines for a media environment driven contentdistribution platform, comprising: a database configured to storesynchronization data derived from the content and ancillary data peggedto instants in the synchronization data derived from the content suchthat subsequent alignment of the synchronization data derived from thecontent to the content synchronizes the ancillary data pegged to theinstants in the synchronization data derived from the content to thecontent; and a transceiver configured to communicate the synchronizationdata derived from the content and the ancillary data pegged to theinstants in the synchronization data derived from the content.
 17. Themachine or group of machines of claim 16, wherein the database isconfigured to continue to receive and store the ancillary data duringsubsequent playout or performance of the content, wherein the ancillarydata is pegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived fromthe content corresponding to instants in the content during thesubsequent playout or performance.
 18. A method for a media environmentdriven content distribution platform, the method comprising: obtainingsynchronization data derived from the content and ancillary data peggedto instants in the synchronization data derived from the content; andcommunicating the synchronization data derived from the content and theancillary data pegged to the instants in the synchronization dataderived from the content such that subsequent alignment of thesynchronization data derived from the content to the contentsynchronizes the ancillary data pegged to the instants in thesynchronization data derived from the content to the content.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, comprising at least one of collecting, storing,retrieving or displaying the ancillary data, the ancillary dataincluding: data about music in the content, data about a script playedout in the content, data about wardrobe wore by characters in thecontent, data describing the content, data including comments fromperformers, producers, or directors of the content, data includingcomments from viewers of the content, data including a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) to a resource that includes information about the content,advertisement data, or statistics of the content including at least onecontent name or content identification.
 20. The method of claim 18,comprising: pegging the ancillary data to the instants in thesynchronization data derived from the content; and storing thesynchronization data derived from the content and the ancillary datapegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived from thecontent to a database.
 21. The method of claim 18, comprising:collecting the ancillary data during a playout or performance of thecontent, wherein the synchronization data derived from the content isderived during the playout or performance from the content and whereinthe ancillary data is pegged to the instants in the synchronization dataderived from the content corresponding to instants in the content duringthe playout or performance.
 22. The method of claim 18, comprising:creating the synchronization data derived from the content by creatingan audio waveform signature of the content's audio; and storing thesynchronization data derived from the content and the ancillary datapegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived from thecontent.
 23. The method of claim 18, comprising: creating thesynchronization data derived from the content and pegging the ancillarydata to the instants in the synchronization data derived from thecontent; storing the synchronization data derived from the content andthe ancillary data pegged to the instants in the synchronization dataderived from the content to a storage location; and creating a link tothe storage location.
 24. The method of claim 18, comprising: storingthe synchronization data derived from the content and the ancillary datapegged to the instants in the synchronization data derived from thecontent to a storage location; creating a link to the storage location;and inserting the link to the storage location into metadata of thecontent.
 25. The method of claim 18, comprising: comparing the contentto the synchronization data derived from the content to identify thecontent.
 26. The method of claim 18, comprising: displaying theancillary data in synchronicity with presentation of the content relyingon the aligning of the synchronization data derived from the content tothe content's audio to synchronize the ancillary data pegged to theinstants in the synchronization data derived from the content to thecontent's audio.